April 19, 2018

Between SaloneSatellite and Fuorisalone, Meet The Belgians in Milan

Is it a long tube or some sort of flexible pipe? That's probably the main question some of the visitors of the SaloneSatellite at Milan Design Week will be wondering when seeing Leila Boukhalfa's rope.

The concept behind this piece was actually developed last year by Ief Spincemaille, but the artist felt his 65-metre long and 30-cm thick rope could have a new and different life when activated by different designers.

Costume and set designer Boukhalfa is the first of three creative minds Spincemaille chose to play with the rope: Boukhalfa gave a functional spin to the Rope turning it into an object for sitting and lying on or playing with.

"Rope" is just one of the protagonists of the showcase organised by Regional Belgian institutions Flanders DC (formerly Design Flanders), MAD Brussels and Wallonie-Bruxelles Design Mode (WBDM).

This year the three institutions decided not to hold a Belgium Is Design exhibition in Milan's city centre as usual, but to focus on events at the SaloneSatellite and at the Fuorisalone.

Quite a few of the pieces on display at the SaloneSatellite are characterised by a playful mood: "Table Hulot" by Gewoon David (Just David), the alter ego of David Degreef, is a surrealist take on the classic table in which the conventional flat surface has been ironically turned into a dish from which you can eat. Degreef used to be a primary school teacher and you can definitely spot a childlike gaiety in this "dish with legs", as the designer describes it on his site.

Amorce Studio's minimalist modular shelf "Rack" and their "Amar" felt stool are the tangible proof that simplicity is often the best choice.

"Rack" can indeed be easily assembled and disassambled with just one gesture; "Amar" looks instead like a flat grey felt rug, but, once you pull the bright yellow strings around it, you obtain a solid star-shaped structure that forms a stool vaguely reminiscent of the Italian Christmas cake called "pandoro".

Laurent Verly's multifunctional, adaptive dÖt wall hanging system has a graphic quality to it, while PaulinePlusLuis (Pauline Capdo and Luis Bellenger) came up with a ceiling lamp called "Grenadine" that seems inspired by the pleating techniques behind origami.

Their floor lamp "Luciole" is instead vaguely reminiscent of Bruno Munari's "Concavo-Convesso" installation as the design is formed by two parts, a floor light and a coloured metal net suspended above the lamp via an almost invisible thread.

Avant-garde fans will enjoy the Fuorisalone display supported by MAD Brussels: Studio Plastique's designs are based on minimalist forms, while Nele Verbeke and Linde Freya Tangelder of Collectif Brut, a new collective of six emerging Belgian designers focusing on collaborative projects, create objects characterised by an architectural, sculptural and emotional potential.

Pierre-Emmanuel Vandeputte's chairs and table combine industrial design with craftsmanship and look the uncanny clash between a camping furniture set and folding medical beds.

There is one critique to move to the organisers as this time the two main displays seemed less rich compared to the ones presented in the last few years. Besides, there was also less variety and not many designers producing textile-based pieces. Still, "Made in Belgium" fans can check out the Design Map available on the Belgium Is Design site and discover up and coming or established creative minds presenting their work in other locations all over Milan during the next few days.